Tag: iphone

Tower Hill at Night – ep. 2

The New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill is transformed into a dazzling display of lights and sculptures.

When I started this series last week, I mentioned the wonderful staff at the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill. For this installment, I will share another bit of their handiwork, which is always filled with creativity and passion for nature.

Tower Hill’s main event for outdoor fun during the winter season is Night Lights. This enchanting display transforms the gardens into a mesmerizing landscape of lights, colors, and artistic sculptures, creating an immersive experience for visitors. My wife and I have been fortunate to attend it a number of years, and each visit never ceases to amaze me. The creativity brought to this exhibit is truly commendable and inspiring!

As we stroll through the gardens, we are greeted by twinkling lights strung across the trees and intricate light installations that reflect the beauty of the winter season. The atmosphere is festive and inviting, with each corner revealing a new surprise that delights both children and adults alike. From towering illuminated trees to soft glowing pathways, every element is thoughtfully designed to enhance the natural beauty surrounding us.

In addition to the stunning visual displays, there are often seasonal activities and themed events that add to the joyful spirit of Night Lights. Local vendors may offer warm beverages and delicious treats, allowing us to savor the flavors of the season as we wander through this magical wonderland. Each year, I find myself looking forward to this experience, captivated by the combination of nature and art that the staff at Tower Hill masterfully brings to life.

Here’s a look from the 2025 Night Lights…

Bluing to Purple

As you can see, this took some meticulous planning to achieve the captivating effect of what I perceived as blue, streaming water, emerging gracefully from the center of the vibrant purple tree. The interplay of colors and textures adds an ethereal quality, almost as if a mystical aura surrounds the tree, inviting viewers to explore its enchanting depths. It almost feels like a powerful surge of aquatic energy flowing from this amazing tree, as if it is a living entity, pulsating with life and wisdom, drawing on the elements of nature to radiate an invigorating essence that captivates everyone who gazes upon it!

iPhone Friday

Experiencing the aurora borealis in Iceland was unforgettable, yet witnessing such phenomena from my backyard also brings joy.

Last Friday, I mentioned that I found several iPhone shots that grabbed my attention, which made finding an image for this week rather easy.

Over the past year, we have been blessed with some rather spectacular solar events to color our skies in the northern hemisphere. Each of these events has provided a unique spectacle, transforming the mundane into something truly magical. The colors swirling in the sky, reminiscent of a painter’s palette, have often left me speechless at the sheer beauty that nature presents. I’ll be honest that after having experienced the aurora borealis in Iceland on a very cold winter night, I feel that it’s cheap to get the same effect— or even better— without having to go through the hardships of braving freezing temperatures and rugged terrains.

Nevertheless, here’s a view from my backyard on November 11, 2025…

Backyard Aurora

It’s fascinating how certain phenomena can evoke such strong emotions and memories. The vibrant hues of the auroras danced above me like a living artwork, and while that experience was unforgettable, I must admit that witnessing solar phenomena right from the comfort of my home or local area can be equally rewarding. This juxtaposition of adventure and accessibility adds a new layer to our appreciation of such wondrous natural displays, reminding us that sometimes, the beauty of the world is just around the corner, waiting for us to take a moment to look up.

iPhone Friday

This week’s image highlights the New Salem Academy Museum, established in 1795.

It’s great to have a sense of revival in this week’s posts, as I feel energized by it. In that vein, I’ll change my self-imposed constraints a little for the iPhone Friday series. From this post on, I will be posting only images that were recorded within the past week. This has the added benefit of reminding me to get out of the house and look around a bit more for something interesting. Simply because, all work and no play dull my senses!

Here’s a take from this past week…

New Salem Academy Museum

New Salem Academy was brought into existence on February 25, 1795, when Massachusetts governor Samuel Adams signed the legislation that created the academy. The Trustees of New Salem Academy have continuously managed the affairs of the Academy since then, which today focuses on the provision of scholarship opportunities for residents of New Salem and descendants of Academy attendees and staff.

Note that the museum is open by appointment only, so please reach out to plan your visit!

iPhone Friday

A simple iPhone photo taken in winter 2015, showcasing lovely sunlight.

After last week’s installment of iPhone Friday with a panoramic view of Temples and Towers in Zion National Park, we’re going for something really simple! Just a simple iPhone shot from the winter of 2015 with some rather lovely sunlight.

Here’s that view…

Winter Sun

Of course smartphone technology has advanced a tremendous amount over the past 10 years and a lot of the artifacts in this image won’t show up any more. Getting a Raw Max image from the iPhone 16 Pro Max delivers incredible results and fidelity.

Enjoy your smartphones and be sure to take photos!

iPhone Friday

Smartphones simplify tasks like taking panoramas compared to DSLR or Mirrorless cameras, which require more effort. Here we get a quick vista of Temples and Towers in Zion.

There are some things that are pretty straightforward to do with our smartphones, but would take a bit of work to accomplish with a DSLR or Mirrorless camera. One example is panoramas. With a smartphone, we simply click a button, pan the horizon with a reasonably steady hand, and it’s all figured out. To do the same with our ‘real’ camera, we should first make sure that the tripod and camera are level, and then we take several shots. Once we have the captures, we then have to stitch them together in our favorite editing software, etc. A bit more work (definitely worth it for an amazing result!)

Here’s the easy way…

Temples and Towers

This is an early morning capture of the Temples and Towers vista at Zion. Majestic, as the sun paints the towers and the temples on top of them. Definitely the easy way out, but not bad with a 40+MP image.

iPhone Friday

In this Independence Day iPhone Friday edition, the author celebrates the Slambovian Circus of Dreams, a band that embodies free speech and joy.

For this United States Independence Day edition of iPhone Friday, I cannot think of a more appropriate selection than the one featured here.

Free speech flows forth from these folks…

Grand Slambovians

The Slambovian Circus of Dreams is one of those bands that everyone should experience, as they will lift up your spirits and take you for a ride on the Trans-Slambovian BiPolar Express that you will never want to leave! This image is from a show on my birthday in 2023 at the Bull Run in Shirley, Massachusetts. It was a blast and filled with joy!

Now to find them again!

iPhone Friday

A moment from attending a Night Photography workshop in Vermont with Loren Fisher.

My apologies for the intermittent posting over the past week or so. Currently, I’m attending a Night Photography workshop in Vermont taught by the wonderful Loren Fisher. I’m very much enjoying this, but it did require me to get a week’s worth of work completed before I took time off starting Tuesday.

While iPhone photography is not the medium of choice for capturing lightpainting or great Milky Way shots, here’s a quick snap to tease…

Rusty Truck

I took this shot as I was capturing a 30 second exposure with my Canon R5 (I will share from those shots later). As Loren was painting the light on this truck, this shot worked out pretty well and I like the sense of vintage that black and white presents here.

Much more to come later…some of the shots came out pretty well.

iPhone Friday

Explore iPhone Friday featuring one of our Cardigan Welsh Corgis. A nice day for herding and capturing memories with my camera.

It may have been a slightly inconsistent week for posting content, as sometimes work gets in the way of life. Today, I did make it out to my wife’s herding lesson with our wonderful Cardigan boy, Stuff. As it was a rather breezy, but nonetheless lovely day, I did a little exploring with one camera and came back to take some iPhone shots.

Here’s one of those shots…

A Nice Day for Herding

Stuff is bringing the sheep around (probably not the correct herding term) as part of his training. Despite being small of stature, Cardigan Welsh Corgis can herd animals much larger than themselves, as Stuff has even worked with cattle.

He’s a good boy and had a nice treat during the ride home.

iPhone Friday

Yes, I love travel and scenic locations, particularly Iceland, which remains my top choice for landscapes. And there’s no ignoring Skogafoss!

It seems like this series of posts has been well-traveled over the past number of months (use tag to travel). There are just so many great places and people to visit on this planet of ours! For pure landscape, I’ll admit that Iceland is still tops on my list!

Here’s another magnificent moment in Iceland…

Skogafoss Rainbow

Skogafoss is a stunning waterfall in this land of many great waterfalls. It’s also visited quite a bit, as its location is close to the ring road and not too far from Reykjavik. Every time that I come here, the waterfall presents itself in a unique way for that day, varying based on time of year, rainfall, melt-off, and many other factors.

iPhone Friday

The city of Rotterdam has a lot of gems, including this futuristic architecture from 1977!

Some weeks I simply get stuck in a single country while going through my photos. I guess it’s the Netherlands for this week, as this installment of iPhone Friday gets us to Rotterdam. During a visit in 2017, I found myself walking through the city of my birth. There’s always something new to see in the city!

Here’s one of my favorite views that you don’t see everywhere…

Plan C

Although these houses were already 40 years old at the time of this photo, they still look futuristic. Architect Piet Blom came up with this design, of which there are several locations. The first set were built in the city of Helmond in 1972, and these in Rotterdam started in 1977. The Rotterdam collection has 38 cubes and 2 super-cubes, all of which are attached to each other.

As they were (and are) quite the novelty, residents were often asked by passers-by to let them see the inside. So one of the residents opened their house as a “show cube”, and makes a living offering tours of their interesting abode. I have taken the tour and can tell you that hanging art on the walls requires additional attachment points!